Le Carnaval des vérités

Synopsis

Comtesse Della Gentia and her lover Paul attempt to seduce and blackmail a rich neighbour Juan, who is in love with a naïve young friend of theirs, Clarisse. Their plot fails; the Comtesse kills herself at a ball, and her lover re-covers her face with its mask.

Production and distribution (2)

Executive Producer :

French distribution :

About

After completing a commercial film for Léon Gaumont, Marcel L'Herbier was offered a contract to work on a prestigious series of films which would be known as "Gaumont Série Pax". Although the terms of the contract placed unwelcome restrictions upon his control over his work, L'Herbier realised that it also offered him an unparalleled opportunity to benefit from the international links of the Gaumont company and to work in the best technical facilities then available. His first project, which he was both to write and to direct, was Le Carnaval des vérités, a symbolist drama about the struggle between Truth and Falsehood.

On its release in June 1920, the film met with reasonable success both with critics and with the public. The receipts from its release were valued at 188,800 francs, showing a small profit over its costs. Of the six films which L'Herbier made for Gaumont, this seems to have been the only one which did not make a financial loss. Léon Gaumont was sufficiently pleased with the film to allow L'Herbier a larger budget for his next work, L'Homme du large.